The Summer Islanders are conspicuously the only black people in ASOIAF. Martin himself has made comparisons between the two. George is riffing on the old British literature which views Africa as "the dark continent" whose ways and people are mysterious and alien to westerners. Sothoryos is a magical version of Africa overrun by monsters. Here's really only one possibility: Sothoryos. They must have come from somewhere connected to the rest of the world. Their skill at navigation suggests they probably got the Isle by sea travel (how else?). Obviously they didn't evolve there from apes by themselves over the course of millions of years as some sort of parallel species. First, we must assume that the people there came from somewhere else. I won't go into a bunch of symbolic analysis, but there is a basic mystery to the Summer Isles which I think I may have a bead on. I find the Summer Isles to be full of interesting names which parallel a lot of the mythical astronomy ideas, and I definitely think that George gives us detail about basically obscure and mostly irrelevant places as a way of including parallels to the main story, as rational guy mentioned. Interesting thoughts on the Summer Isles here. The Summer Isles is seen as a destination for exiled rulers. And she says "Exile- a bitter cup to drink from", for that's what Ned means. When Ned Stark is talking with Cercei in the gods wood of the red keep, he says to take a boat to the free cities, or the Summer Isles, or to the port of Ibben. I wonder if the maps will be important later in the series. They also have maps of the world that no one else has, making it a powerful place of knowledge about Planetos. The Palace of the Summer Isles is know as the Pearl Palace, and the isles have many gemstones. Maybe a banished Gemstone Emperor left the Great Empire of the Dawn and settled in the Summer Isles? Perhaps the Pearl Emperor, who is said to have ascended to heaven, instead moved to the Summer Isles to live out an amazingly long life of bliss on beautiful isles. Once a prince loses a battle, however, he is banished from the isles. The only people mentioned in the world of ice and fire who have a "civilized" method of changing princes are the Summer Isles. If it was truly a peaceful empire (internally), then the method of dynastic change/succession must not be the usual war and strife. The usurpation of the bloodstone emperor is seen as a grave injustice - even rumours of him causing the Long Night - instead of the traditional succession. The Summer Isles & how they relate to the Gemstone Emperorsįor the Gemstone Emperors, until the usurpation of the Bloodstone Emperor, there must have been some sort of civilized handing over of power.
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